Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

This is a fight to the death: Splinter versus Shredder.   It's all a lead up to the fight, and the protracted fight itself, which had two parts, one longer than the other.   (And despite the length, there was plenty going on: other than the actual fights, there were flashbacks, arguments about the proper way for a warrior to fight, and shifting strategies on how to fight the enemy at hand.)   The way I described it, it may seem like the fight scene is dragged out, or boring, but I didn't feel this way.   Long, yes, boring or pointless, no. 

It makes sense that this fight goes on as it does, too, because the feud between Splinter and Shredder has been building for so long, driven by Shredder's need to punish a sin from a different lifetime.   

That being said, I felt that the ending was a mixed bag.   I found it hard to believe that Shredder suddenly acts the way he does with such little impetus.  There are hints that he may not be quite as sincere as he says - or wants to be - but I didn't quite buy it, even while finding the heavier flashbacks here quite emotionally satisfying.   They fleshed out the relationship between Shredder and Splinter, age me an almost good enough reason to believe that Shredder reverted like that, and turned what could have been ultimately disappointing into only semi-disappointing. 

There is also an epilogue type of scene that I found the most intriguing, because it hints at some potentially revelatory machinations working on in the background.   I really want to see if this pans out the way I'm guessing it will or not.